Nor’easter to strike parts of CT with heavy snow, gusty winds Tuesday

A Nor’easter is expected to strike Connecticut Tuesday, dropping heavy snow on some parts of the state.

Areas such as northern Litchfield County should expect 8-16 inches of snow starting Monday night and continuing through Tuesday night with power outages expected, according to the National Weather Service and Gary Lessor, chief meteorologist at the Connecticut Weather Center at Western Connecticut State University.

Windham, Tolland and northern Hartford counties are looking at 4-8 inches of snow, while most of central Connecticut will accumulate about 2-5 inches by Wednesday morning, Lessor said.

Along the immediate shoreline, there is likely to be a coating up to two inches.

Low temperatures Monday night were expected to be in the mid-30s, which is why everyone was expected to be seeing rain other than Litchfield County, Lessor said.

High temperatures will be in the 40s Tuesday and then near freezing Tuesday night. The bulk of snow accumulation on roadways and driveways will be Tuesday night, Lessor said.

“It’s likely to be, for many people, the biggest storm of the winter season,” said Lessor.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced on Monday that he is ordering the State Emergency Operations Center, or EOC, to be partially activated at 6 a.m. on Tuesday to monitor conditions from the winter storm.

According to Lamont’s office, the Emergency Operations Center will be staffed with personnel from several state agencies, including the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Administrative Services IT support and the Connecticut National Guard.

Additionally, Eversource and United Illuminating Co. representatives will be on site, as well as staff from other state agencies. The Red Cross and United Way 211 will be also available if needed.

“Different weather models are showing varying projections at the moment. However, there is the potential that Connecticut will see quite a range in snowfall totals, with the greatest impact likely occurring in the northwestern and northeastern portions of the state,” Lamont said.

A Winter Storm Watch is in effect from the NWS for the Hartford area starting Monday night through Wednesday morning. The weather service said travel may be difficult during the storm, especially Tuesday afternoon, and that gusty winds are expected to bring down tree branches.

A Winter Storm Warning was in effect for the Litchfield area from 5 p.m. Monday to 8 a.m. Wednesday.

As of Monday afternoon, the NWS was predicting about 12 to 18 inches of snow in Litchfield County with winds gusting as high as 45 mph. The NWS said snowfall rates will reach 1 to 2 inches per hour or higher in some areas.

“Travel will be very difficult to impossible,” said the weather service in a Winter Storm Watch announced Monday, while also recommending keeping an extra flashlight, food, and water in vehicles in case of an emergency.

Areas of Connecticut that are lower in elevation, such as Hartford, Plainville and Southington down to Wallingford and North Haven, should expect a “widow maker” style of snow, according to Lessor.

“There’s not going to be much of it, but it’s going to be heavy and soppy,” said Lessor. He recommended that unless you’re in good health, it’s best not to try to shovel the thick, heavy snowfall that’s expected.

Lamont also encouraged everyone to stay off the roads to the greatest extent possible throughout the storm.

The National Weather Service Boston office said in a statement on Twitter that the “greatest impacts are wet snow weighing on trees [and] power lines [and] damaging wind gusts.”

During a press conference on Monday, Eversource President of Connecticut Electric Operations Steve Sullivan said that over 10% of customers, or 130,000 people, may experience power outages from this storm.

The combination of heavy, wet snow, long-duration sustained winds and long-duration gusts will “certainly bring down tree limbs and most certainly entire trees,” causing many outages. The company has declared an emergency response level 4 based on that forecast, Sullivan said, “signaling a very significant event.”

Lamont’s office has been in contact with Connecticut’s utility companies, including Eversource and United Illuminating, to stress the importance of having preparations in place and ready to employ well in advance of the storm should widespread outages occur.

Sullivan said Eversource has over 700 line crews, troubleshooters and 500 tree crews prepared to respond.

The company is encouraging people to be prepared by charging their electronics and preparing storm kits with things like batteries, flashlights, medical supplies and nonperishable items.

“The most concerning part about the forecast is how wet and heavy this snow may be, combined with its very strong wind gusts,” Lamont said. “These two factors together may bring down power lines and tree limbs, resulting in power outages.

“I strongly encourage everyone to have preparations in place in the event that you lose electricity and particularly keep all of your mobile devices fully charged in case you need to call and report an emergency,” he added.

Sullivan also said that, although they’re encouraging people to stay inside in during the storm, people should remember to stay away from any downed wires they see if they venture outside.